Compliments She'll Love

Show this to your man!

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You may think "You look nice" is a perfectly sweet compliment to pay your girlfriend. And it is. But it can come across as a trite line rather than something tailored to her. See, the more specific you get when you praise a woman, the more she'll eat it up. To better understand what kind of words will make her day, read on.

"You look so amazing in that dress."
You know the tortuously long hour she spent getting ready for some big event? She did it for you, dum-dum! That's why you have to acknowledge that she looks even more radiant than usual. "Reassure her that you noticed the effort and appreciate it by singling out something specific," says psychologist Sheenah Hankin, PhD, author of Complete Confidence. You can borrow this line: "Your eyes look awesome when you wear that color."

"I'm impressed with..."
Your girl wants to know she stands apart from the masses. One way to convey that is by drawing attention to her unique talents. "If she is hilarious, speaks a few languages fluently, or has a great singing voice, highlight what makes her different," suggests New York City psychotherapist JoAnn Magdoff, PhD. Not only does it make her feel special, but it also shows just how well you know her, which is flattering in and of itself.

"That felt incredible."
The better a woman thinks she is in bed, the more she'll want to get horizontal. So boost her sexual self-confidence by praising her erotic skills. "Women often worry about whether they're pleasing their partners," says Hankin. "During sex or afterward in bed, let her know how good it felt by pointing out how crazy you are about one of her moves."

"You always know..."
When you come home from a gnarly day of work to find the game's on and she's whipped up a pizza, tell her, "You always know how to cheer me up." A comment like that goes much further than "Hey, thanks."

"She likes to hear that she's uniquely adept at making you feel better," says Magdoff. "It reinforces what a nurturing girlfriend she is and how lucky you feel to have her."

Myth: All women compare their lovers.

"Are you kidding? I would hope that I'm too busy enjoying the sexual experience to do a play-by-play in my head of all the things an ex-boyfriend did differently."--Tara, 25

"Honestly, if I'm having sex with a guy who's not hitting all my spots, I might think about what he should be doing instead. But I'm not thinking about who did it better."--Kylie, 29

"When I'm dating a new guy, I take note of how much more considerate he is than the last guy or that we seem to have more in common, but I don't compare them in bed."--Allison, 30